Florida Native Plant Society ~ Sea Rocket Chapter ~ Serving Central & North Brevard County December 2013 The purpose of the Florida Native Plant Society is to promote the preservation, conservation, and restoration of the native plants and native plant communities of Florida. ~ Sea Rocket ~ Board of Directors Co-Presidents Susan Eggler sfemc@cfl.rr.com Shari Blissett-Clark jclark109@cfl.rr.com Vice President Bill Klein Klein_William_R@hotmail.com Treasurer Martha Pessaro tigerlily1953@aol.com Co-Secretaries Tom McLeod tomemc@cfl.rr.com Ron Chicone rchicone@yahoo.com Chapter Representative Paul Schmalzer, PhD paul.a.schmalzer@nasa.gov Committees Membership Education/Outreach Shari Blissett-Clark jclark109@cfl.rr.com Nursery Suzanne Meyer meyermenagerie@cfl.rr.com Hike Leader Paul Schmalzer, PhD paul.a.schmalzer@nasa.gov Newsletter David Humphrey brevcracker@gmail.com Hospitality Karen Sue Gaddy Seasons Greetings from FNPS Sea Rocket Chapter! Don t forget to RSVP for the Annual Holiday Dinner at Café Margaux in Cocoa Village See page 4 for details! RSVP by Monday, December 2nd kargad3@aol.com There will be no Sea Rocket meeting in December ~ Happy Holidays! kargad3@aol.com December 2013 page 1
Every Saturday: December 2 December 4 December 6 December 7 December 9 December 11 December 14 December 14 December 18 December 12 December 20 December 25 December 28 (Note: All future plans can change; if in doubt, verify!) GUIDED NATURE HIKES - 10:00am - the Enchanted Forest Sanctuary. Bring hat, water and walking shoes. Groups of 5 or more, please RSVP. For more information, please call 321-264-5185. RSVP Deadline for Sea Rocket Christmas Dinner email Karen Gaddy at kargad3@aol.com to reserve your attendance. Guests welcome! FTA Hike: Econ River Loop Trail. Meet at the Lone Cabbage fish camp at 8:30am Bring hat, water and walking shoes. jescoffier@aol.com EEL Program Guide Training - 10:00am, The Enchanted Forest is sponsoring volunteer guide training. Call 321-264-5185 for details. Volunteer Hike, EFS, 11:00am Join Dr. Paul Schmalzer on a guided hike and explore the trails of the Enchanted Forest. Call 321-264-5185 for information. FNPS Conradina Chapter Monthly Meeting - 6:00pm, A special holiday project is planned, Making Holiday Wreaths with Native Plants. Melbourne Fee Ave. Library, www.fnps.org FTA Hike: Prairie Lakes Trail. Meet at Sam s Club, 4255 W. New Haven, Melbourne, 8:30am. Bring hat, water and walking shoes. jescoffier@aol.com Keep Brevard Beautiful Pelican Beach Cleanup - 8-10am.1525 Florida A1A, Satellite Beach. www.keepbrevardbeautiful.wordpress.com/ Sams House at Pine Island - Children s book reading, Well Earth, Well Me by author Kendra Swartz Pepper. Books will be available for cash purchase, 321-449-4720 FTA Hike: Seminole Ranch. Meet at the west entrance to Lowes parking lot in Titusville at 8:30am. Bring hat, water and walking shoes. jescoffier@aol.com Sea Rocket Annual Holiday Dinner at Café Margaux. See page 4 for details. RSVP to kargad3@aol.com Nocturnal Hike at Enchanted Forest 6:00pm, Please bring bug spray and a flashlight. Registration required: call 321-264-5185. Limited to 20 participants. Christmas Day! Happy Holidays from Sea Rocket Chapter! How to Build an Eagle s Nest, Sams House at Pine Island 11:00am Help in a nest building project, learn about Eagles, and listen to Eagle legends. Call (321) 449-4720 Hold these Dates! January 13 FNPS Conradina Chapter hosts Dr. Walter Kingsley Taylor, Brevard Zoo February 1 Deadline for research papers: FNPS 2014 Conference (see page 3) March 7 Deadline for the 2014 Awards (see page 3) Please send calendar items to David Humphrey at brevcracker@gmail.com For a comprehensive view of Sea Rocket activities go to www.fnps.com; events, searocket December 2013 page 2
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FNPS Sea Rocket Chapter Annual Holiday Dinner Café Margaux in Cocoa Village Wednesday, December 11, 2013 6:00pm ~ $29 per person Please RSVP by Monday, December 2nd, 2013 kargad3@aol.com Menu: All dinners include mixed greens salad, Chef s potato & vegetable. Tenderloin of Beef Brochette with Onions, Peppers, & Wild Mushrooms, Cabernet Herb Demiglace Sauce ~or~ Crisp Peppered Grouper, Sherry Lobster Cream Sauce ~or~ Herb Roasted Chicken over Lemon Linguine Pasta, Tri colored Peppers, Greek Basil, Olive Oil & Garlic Dessert Chocolate Truffle Cake with Godiva Mousse Amaretto Almond Cake with White Chocolate Mousse December 2013 page 4
The Chain of Lakes Native Plant Garden is Back! By Ron Chicone, Jr., December, 2013 If you re wondering why I use the word back, then you may not know that the garden fell upon hard times in early 2012. Planted in January 2010 by Sea Rocket members and funded with a grant from Keep Brevard Beautiful, this exciting and well planned outreach project had great potential for promoting native landscaping to unacquainted spectators. However, with the budget cuts and reductions in staff at Chain of Lakes Park there was no one to maintain the garden, and we all know what happens when a garden is not maintained. Eventually park staff had to mow the whole thing down with the exception of the pop ash, weeping yaupon and the acacia tree, which was protecting its understory of seaside goldenrod with vicious thorns. Regular mowing soon resulted in the reestablishment of St. Augustine, Bermuda, and Bahia grass from the surrounding lawn. But all has not been lost. A plan to revive this foothold of natural beauty in a sea of athletic field turf was hatched. First, we obtained permission from the park manager Mike Haddon who was happy to accommodate us but wanted to make sure we kept the adjacent canal banks clear of vegetation as it tended to encourage water moccasins sunning on the bridge. Next, we needed something to define the garden and add some structural elements. Xavier de Seguin des Hons Land Manager with the Environmentally Endangered Lands program was happy to donate several large coquina rocks that were obstructing a fireline at Indian Mound Station Sanctuary. With the boulders in place, it was time to focus on resurrecting the native plants. But re-vegetating the entire garden area was too great a task to undertake all at once. And, in order to keep the mowers and line trimmers at bay in this manicured environment, the garden would have to look neat and purposeful at all times. This has so far been accomplished by focusing on the creation of small, well delineated, mulched flower beds anchored by the existing woody specimens and the new coquina rocks. Fortunately, the originally planted natives were still hiding in the lawn and soil, and they gladly reasserted themselves when given a chance. And, there are more just waiting for their chance. Two methods have been used to promote this reestablishment process. One is to designate a small area and simply remove by hand the competing turf grass and lawn weeds. But where the grass is too thick for the natives to compete, the turf was just dug up and the native plants were separated out, replanted and mulched. The focus has been on regular maintenance, weeding, line trimming and pruning, and only expanding the beds in small steps. Also, this process has not required any new funds to accomplish. Now park visitors can see some really cool native plants including firebush, seaside goldenrod, Elliott s aster, wild petunia, sunshine mimosa, blue porterweed, dune sunflower, climbing aster, water hemlock, frogfruit, Florida canna, frostweed and others. The habitat is returning, the butterflies and other pollinators are coming back, and Chain of Lakes Park is a more interesting place with the return of this little garden. (More photos on page 6) If you would like to participate in making this garden a success, we could use some help to keep enlarging these beds, adding new plants and returning this garden to it s originally intended purpose of demonstrating the benefits and beauty of native Florida landscaping to the public. For more information contact Ron Chicone at rchicone@yahoo.com or 803-603-8912. December 2013 page 5
Community Corner News for and about your Chapter Looking southwest at the entrance to the Chain Of Lakes (COL) garden. Rocks were placed adjacent to the path to demarcate the entrance and provide a point from which to start reestablishing beds. The turf was carefully dug up and natives were separated and replanted. Ron The firebush and dune sunflower are coming back strong on the west side of the COL garden. Ron Looking southeast from the path, the acacia tree and the seaside golden rod were thriving from the original COL garden but had been overgrown with weeds. The focus here was to sculpt, prune and delineate. Ron From the Sea Rocket Board Room Thanks for the plant donations! Nancy brought in a Coco-Plum Dave donated Gaillardia Here s a round up of what our (World Class) Members did this month. EFS Forest Festival and plant sale: Forest Festival at EFS was a big success! There were live skunks (polecats for the ol timers), snakes, gators, and bats. There was folk music and music for children, all very well done. Sea Rocket was well represented by both healthy plants (50 varieties) and 11 great looking volunteers to manage the plant sale. Many thanks to the volunteers; Cheryl, Dave, EFS Crew, Jill, Karen, Louanne, Myra, Nancy, Ron, Shari, Suzanne, Woody, and volunteers from college. Thanks to all for the time and effort given! Hands Across the Lagoon and more Bill and Marlys participated in and volunteered for the Hands Across the Lagoon event at the Max Brewer Bridge in Titusville. Bill distributed flyers and volunteered at the committee table the day of the event. Bill volunteered with the Brevard Zoo project installing oyster mats at Mosquito Lagoon. (See page 8 for photos) We attended, and Bill spoke during the citizen comments portion at the Palm Beach County Commissioner's Lagoon Workshop at the Marine Resources Council. - Marlys Breckle The Native Rhythms Festival (NRF) - planned by our own Martha Pessaro (Great job Martha!) Preliminary count indicates over 15,000 attendees to this years NRF. Sea Rocket was represented all three days; thanks to those who volunteered! Friday: Karen and Louanne survived the wind and kept the shelter in place. Awesome job. Saturday: Duane, Karen and Tyler Gaddy, Suzanne and Bill Meyer. Sunday: Duane, Karen and Dylan Gaddy Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge (MINWR) 50th Anniversary Festival and native plant sale; thanks to Louanne, Annette, Nancy and Jim, Dave, and Tom. Great turnout with lots of native plant questions! Eco-Living Jubilee; Food trucks, organic growers, "green" living vendors. Sea Rocket Information booth with membership info, native plant info, etc Karen and Duane Gaddy and Dave. Well attended event with a wide range of vendors in attendance. It quit raining right before the event and started again as we were doing the final packing up. Interested in helping with Sea Rocket outreach events? Contact a member of the Board for more information! December 2013 page 6
Christmas berry Lycium carolinianum LY-see-um kair-oh-lin-ee-an-um Solanaceae By David Humphrey Carolina Desert-thorn, Carolina Wolfberry, The christmasberry blooms with lavender to whitish flowers which, in the December time frame, then develop into bright red berries, about 1/2" across. The berries are edible, but are better left for the birds, rather than for humans. Like other members of the nightshade family, (tomato, potato, eggplant, petunia) christmasberry has a vine-like, cascading growth habit. Although a show off as a specimen plant it does well in group planting, as long as it has nearly full sun access. Christmasberry carries other names as well, such as the Carolina Desertthorn. Descriptive in that there are thorns at the short branch tips and should be used in a lower traffic area. Propagating the christmasberry by seed is reported to be reasonably easy, or it can spread from the roots as well. It is not noted to be a invasive plant. Normal growth is a multi branching shrub 4 to 6 feet tall. It can be trimmed into a single branch, tree form, as well. Soil types are not highly critical, but a well drained soil with some organics would be best. It can take drought, but will lose its leaves in a life saving move. New leaves will grow when watered. Full sun is needed for the most successful growth. Even though it carries the moniker of "christmasberry" it is not very cold hardy. It has an extensive root system which makes it stable in the winds and able to stabilize loose soil. It is very salt tolerant and can be grown successfully on the barrier islands. Get your native plants here! Florida Native & Edible Plants, Landscape Consultations, Workshops, & More! www.naturewiseplants.com 321-536-1410 green images Florida Native Landscape Plants 1333 Taylor Creek Road Christmas, Florida 32709 407-568-1333 greenimage@aol.com December 2013 page 7
Volunteerism: at the Heart of FNPS & Sea Rocket! This month s volunteer: Bill Klein This is Sea Rocket s Vice President, Bill Klein, hard at work! Bill is armed and extremely dangerous to the pepper tree invaders at Sand Point Park! Before After Bill Klein Though I don t see Bill in the picture, he was involved with installing these oyster mats in the Mosquito Lagoon; event sponsored by Brevard Zoo. December 2013 page 8
Sea Rocket General Meeting Minutes: November 20, 2013 Submitted by Ron Chicone Refreshments and name tags were set up and available by 6:30. The meeting business and the featured presentation introduction were conducted by Chapter Co-President Susan Eggler. Board and committee members present were: Martha Pessaro, Paul Schmalzer, Bill Klein, David Humphrey, Karen Sue Gaddy, and Ron Chicone. The Business Meeting was called to order at 7:00 by Ms. Eggler. Financial Report: Ms. Pessaro gave a brief financial report. Our checking balance is $3,864, our savings account is $1,412, for a total of $5,266. We paid for the Space Coast Birding and Wildlife festival table and made a donation to the Land and Water Legacy and purchased plants for several of the plant sales. We have brought in $320 on plant sales, $12 on T-shirts, $52 on miscellaneous and donations. Announcements: Ms. Joan Faulls of Enchanted Forest Sanctuary (EFS) announced that Dr. Schmalzer will be leading a hike through the Sanctuary on December 7 th at 11:00 AM as part of a volunteer orientation program. EFS will be closed on Thanksgiving day and Friday November 29 th. A volunteer orientation will also be held on December 6 th and on December 10 th. The Friends of the Enchanted Forest will have their Holiday Party at EFS and Sea Rocket members are welcome to attend. Ms. Faulls recognized Ms. Pessaro and Ms. Blissett-Clark for their work representing Friends of the EFS and Sea Rocket Chapter respectively in a television documentary called Brevard Notes taped yesterday. It will air on Bright House Cable channel 49 next week on Monday at 6:00 PM, Wednesday at 6:30 PM and Friday at 7:00 PM. Ms. Faulls will try to send out an email reminder with these dates. Orlando Wetlands Festival is coming up at Fort Christmas and if Sea Rocket would like to have a booth there Ms. Faulls can arrange that. Ms. Eggler thanked all the volunteers who represented Sea Rocket and participated in the many recent events including plant sales and outreach booths. Volunteers recognized were: David Humphrey, Karen Sue Gaddy, Duane Gaddy, Tyler Gaddy, Louanne Marletta, Suzanne Meyer, Bill Meyer, Myra Brubaker, Nancy Escoffier, Jim Escoffier, Ron Chicone, Tom McLeod, Annette Myers, Woody Dierberg, Cheryl Barnes, Jill Whitson, Bill Klein, and Marlys Breckle. Ms. Eggler reminded members of the great volunteer opportunity coming up in January with the Space Coast Birding & Wildlife Festival where Sea Rocket will have an exhibit booth for the five day festival. Volunteers will be needed to staff the exhibit, meet visitors, and distribute FNPS information. Contact Shari Blissett-Clark if interested in volunteering. There will be no December meeting. Sea Rocket will hold it s annual Holiday Dinner at Café Margaux on the December 11 th at 6:30pm. Canapés will be provided by the Chapter and there is a fixed price of $29.00 per person on dinner. The menu was displayed in the November newsletter. Please RSVP to Karen Gaddy by Monday December 2 nd. Ms. Eggler introduced Dr. Paul Schmalzer, the speaker for the evening, and his presentation on identifying Florida plants using a botanical key. The meeting was adjourned by Ms. Eggler at 8:07 PM. December 2013 page 9
The Enchanted Forest Sanctuary Education Center 444 Columbia Blvd, Titusville, FL 32780 321-264-5185 Driving Directions to the Sanctuary: From I-95 Northbound: take SR-407 Exit 212 east 2.7 miles to SR-405 intersection. Turn right onto SR-405 and go east 1.9 miles (the Sanctuary entrance is on the left 0.4 miles past Sisson Road) From I-95 Southbound: take SR-50 Exit 215 east. Turn left onto SR 50 and turn right onto SR-405 (2nd light) Travel 3.6 miles (the Sanctuary entrance is on the left 0.4 miles past Sisson Road) From U.S. HWY 1: go west 0.5 miles on SR-405 in south Titusville. Sanctuary entrance is on the right. Florida Native Plant Society For membership information, address change: P. O. Box 278, Melbourne, FL 32902-0278 Phone: 321-271-6702; Fax: 321-951-1941; Email: Info@fnps.org/www.fnps.org Sea Rocket Chapter mailing address: P. O. Box 236341, Cocoa, FL 32923-6341 There will be no December meeting! NEXT PROGRAM: Wednesday, January 22, 2014 at 6:30 PM FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC! SPACE COAST BIRDING & WILDLIFE FESTIVAL www.fnps.org Sea Rocket Chapter PO Box 236341 Cocoa, FL 32923-6341 GO GREEN! RECEIVE YOUR NEWSLETTER VIA EMAIL AND SAVE SOME GREEN! GO GREEN! December 2013 page 10